The Vegan Experiment - Day Trois

Day three!  I'm almost half-way through the week, so I felt the need to use bad French...you know, that kind-of foreign-word-dropping entitlement that comes when you're eating like 1% of your fellow Americans.  



Not because I'm rich, but because I'm vegan. 
 I might be the other 1%, too, but I'm not sure.

I'm happy to report, I think I finally hit my stride!  Of course, my coffee woes only got worse before they got better, but I'm less stressed about making vegan choices.  This is probably a good time to differentiate between being a true vegan and eating a vegan diet (or vegetarian diet, but if you use "vegan", people don't ask, "So, do you still eat cheese?" over and over and over again).  So far, I'm just eating a vegan diet.  I haven't ridded my closet or the rest of my home of it's leather or other animal things.  I'm cooking two meals - one for me and one for my unsupportive family - and I'm littering so people don't think I've gone completely off the deep end.  Not really.  I'm not littering. 

I'll spare you all my menu today, but I do want to leave you with these four take-aways:

1. I dislike HIDDEN animal by-products - The Coffee Conundrum.

I am trying to like blech! coffee.  I really am.  Buuuuut, it is not working for me, so I looked for anything I could find at the office coffee bar.  Non-dairy creamer?  Sounds legit, right?  The ingredients weren't listed, but non-dairy is non-dairy.  WRONG!  It has milk in it.  CASEIN.  International Foods is a lying, cheating, whore. They tricked me.  I felt awful and alone.  Alone in my coffee terribleness.  But I got on with my day because...

2. Alicia Silverstone can always make a person feel better about him or herself.

I was googling "vegan accidentally had milk", and who should appear?  Alicia Silverstone.  The forum for The Kind Life popped up, and there were all sorts of soothing words for me to read.  The Kind Life has The Kind Diet and other neat resources.  The coolest part??  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I read on that site...well, I could hear it in Alicia's voice in my head. It's like she was right here encouraging me along. 

Before you think I may have eaten some bad mushrooms, I have to tell you that I've had a thing for her since Clueless.

3. Dinner CAN be easy.

I got a craving and a gift from Heaven at the same time.  I was in the mood for some guacamole - pronto!, and I immediately thought of Chipotle for dinner.  I went to their website (because I had a little time to research the menu), and they have a section that says, "If you are vegan, you want to avoid..." and it listed their menu items that I shouldn't eat...which was barely anything!  Thanks, Chipotle!

4. Much of my family lives in a teeny, tiny box (like veal). 

Oh the comments I've been getting!  The refusals to try my recipes!  The warnings if I choose to "Stay this way".  The half-assed support, "I support you, but don't try to feed me any of your vegan food."  Okay.  If you don't want any of my chips and salsa or mixed fruit(franken-food, I know!) then that's fine with me.  More for me.

Come on, family!  I support your omnivorous ways.  Not because I have to, but because I love you!  Support me, too! 

Until tomorrow!